floating the idea of a third-party presidential run. new images of idf forces pushing further into southern gaza as u.s. officials are now raising new questions and alarm over why hamas is refusing to release more female hostages. a home in arlington, virginia, blows sky-high. the blast could be felt miles away in d.c. police were there when it happened, trying to serve a search warrant. what were they looking for? details on that investigation ahead. i'm sara sidner with john berman and kate bolduan. this is "cnn news central." major rumblings in and around the republican race for president this morning starting with a huge push to get chris christie out. according to "the new york times," republican donors, strategists, and pundits are publicly pressuring mr. christie to follow the lead of tim scott and mike pence and formally end his campaign. many would like to see him throw his support behind nikki haley. republican strategist kevin madden adds, "ideally, it would have been facing this reality yesterday, a month or two months ago." the other big rumbling is liz cheney in? the ardent trump critic and republican just told "the washington post" this morning that she is still considering a third-party run as she continues to warn of donald trump's, quote, grave threat. now, as for trump himself, tonight he's holding a solo town hall. tomorrow he is ditching the presidential debate. thursday, he is heading back to court, all while intensifying his rhetoric in spouting fringe january 6th theories. cnn's kristen holmes is following this. what's donald trump up to and saying now? >> reporter: donald trump is running the campaign the way he wants to run his campaign. as you noted, he is going to a fox town hall, skipping the debate for a fund raiser in florida. then he's going to sit through testimony in his civil hearing in new york. on monday he is expected to testify in that trial. this is coming at a time we are starting to hear alarm bells being raised. you mentioned his rhetoric intensifying. it's not so much that his rhetoric is intensifying. he's been saying the same thing since he announced back in november that he was going to be running for president. but people are really starting to pay attention, likely because we are just six weeks out from the iowa caucus, and he still holds a commanding lead in the polls, not just in iowa but also nationwide. that is causing many people, critics, republicans, and democrats, to wonder what a trump second term would look like. when you look through the rhetoric of what trump is saying, they believe it is a threat to democracy. one of his loudest critics, liz cheney, has been talking about this quite a bit, hitting both donald trump and the republican party. take a listen. >> i don't know if our party can be saved. it may be that we need to build a new party. but i think those issues have to come after this 2024 cycle, because the focus has to be just completely right now on making sure we don't return donald trump to the white house. >> as we are starting to hear more and more warnings from people on donald trump's potential second term, saying this would be a threat to democracy, it would threaten the constitution, we are also hearing that donald trump's lawyers have reached out to the department of justice in the january 6th case to get more information, including information on government conspiracies. obviously, we know that this is something that's been going on on right-wing conservative conspiracy, social media, essentially saying this was a government plot, january 6th. now we know that lawyers for donald trump have been asking the justice department to look into some of those theories. now, how exactly that's going to play into his defense, we don't know yet, but obviously that is one avenue this morning. >> a lot of analysts think that's more of a political play than a courtroom play, but we'll watch it. stand by for a minute. el elena, for chris christie, the good news is he made the debate stage tomorrow night. the bad news is a lot of republican insiders are saying maybe you should go. >> that's right, john. i think this is something we've been hearing for weeks. we know that many republicans want to consolidate around one republican candidate that could be seen as the alternative to donald trump. increasingly we've seen nikki haley have an excellent few weeks and people urging her -- urging the candidates, i should say, to drop out and support her. that's what they're trying to tell chris christie to do. on his part, he has no plans to do that. he wants to stay in the race through the republican convention. he recently told cnn he thinks he's doing really well in new hampshire. that's kind of the state where he's focused all of his attention. but he also thinks he'll do so well in that state that it could carry him through the rest of the primary season. we'll see if that's actually what happens, but that is k christie's goal. tomorrow is the smallest debate stage we've seen. christie, nikki haley, vivek ramaswamy taking the stage. you're just six weeks away from the iowa caucuses, and they're doing as much as they can to court these voters in the hopes of eating away at donald trump's support. now, of course, as you mentioned, donald trump will not be on the debate stage. he's skipping it, as he has done with the previous debates. that's led to a lot of frustration among his opponents. we heard ron desantis on monday in new hampshire attacking donald trump for not showing up. let's listen. >> donald trump is not willing to debate. i mean, you have to ask yourself why. why can't you stand up on the stage for two hours and articulate? what's going to be different this time than happened in 2020? how is he a better candidate? will he admit any mistakes? i don't think so. >> now, john, to that question from ron desantis saying why won't we show up, well, i've spoke on the many of donald trump's advisers and those in his inner circle about this, and their goal is really to make it look like donald trump is in a different league than his opponents, and they think that skipping these debates continues to help him. that's why he's continuing not to show up. and i just want to point out, the two big things that i think is most frustrating for donald trump's opponents is, one, they do not have an opportunity to attack the front-runner directly, but they're also not really getting the opportunity to try and continue to court and win over a lot of the pro-trump viewers that are not tuning in while donald trump isn't there. >> it is worth noting, except for chris christie, none seem to show a great interest in attacking donald trump directly. be that as it may. thanks to both of you. joining us, republican strategist michael singleton and alice stewart. alice, start with the debate, what has changed and by how much in the last debate. we can show everyone kind of the then and now roughly of the polling of the republican field from november between the two debates, if you will. donald trump is still up by 50-plus points. so, what has changed? >> well, for one, the size of the debate stage has significantly decreased, which i think will be good during this debate. but, look, donald trump's numbers are not going anywhere. he continues to dominate the field, and his supporters are essentially growing. but i think, and many republicans i speak with say the best option for the gop is to find a trump alternative. so, that is to look at these other candidates and see who is in the best position to make the case to voters. and, look, at this stage of the game, we understand what these debates are all about. they need to contrast with each other on the policies, which in many cases, kate, are similar, when it comes to foreign policy, immigration, as well as -- there is some contrast on abortion, but the most important argument to make on this debate stage is their electability, to make the case to voters they cannot only beat donald trump but joe biden if he is the democratic nominee. they also need to show it's time for a new generation of optimistic leadership that is forward thinking and not past -- looking at past grievances. those are the important issues i'll be looking for on the debate stage, and hopefully we can winnow this field even more to have a more viable candidate to take on donald trump as wes head into the important iowa caucuses. >> the concept of winnowing the field, schermichael. don't giggle. now seeing reporting of pressure on, as john was talking about, chris christie to also drop out of the race. "the new york times" wanted him to drop out and throw his support behind nikki haley. but consider this fact, this argument, may be counterintuitive to what the conventional wisdom is. mark short has taken a different view on how to take on trump and fight against him and keep him from the nomination. he's told me this more than once. listen. >> i think some of the conventional wisdom that is out there would suggest, hey, we need to narrow it down to one-on-one. i don't think that applies here. i think the reality is that as candidates drop out, it will build more of an inevitability if donald trump is the nominee. so i think it's a different dynamic. >> schermichael, agree or disagree? >> i think that's a fair point, kate. i'm not exactly certain i would agree, though. a really clear politics average has chris christie at 2 hpt 2%. he barely made the debate stage this time around. nikki haley has continued to see her numbers rise. chris christie also, i would argue, has some personality issues. not a lot of voters like chris christie. he comes off as bully to some individuals. i think nikki haley is someone who comes off as forward thinking, as alice spoke about. she was a former governor. she had to deal with a sensitive racial crisis in her state. the country still has many racial issues to deal with. she's been the only republican on that stage to, i would argue, really arctic arctic you late - about positivity. you want someone with foreign policy experience and someone who can sort of parse through some of those social issues that trump frankly doesn't do very well with. >> alice, let's talk about liz cheney. she told "the washington post" yesterday that she's considering a third-party run for president now. here's what she said. she said, "several years ago, i would not have considered it. but we need a candidate who will be able to deal with and address and confront all of those challenges. that will all be part of my calculation as we go into the early months of 2024." she says she'll make a final decision on this in the next few months. is it clear what this could, would look like, depending on what she decides? >> look, kate. i'm here for people that the likelihood of a third-party candidate is very likely, whether liz cheney or someone else. that shows people are not satisfied with the choices at hand, whether that is donald trump or joe biden. now we have an independent candidate in robert f. kennedy junior. people are frustrated with the status quo of politics, but at the end of the day, i happen to be a firm believer in the two-party process, maybe v may the best republican win or the best democrat win, and it's incumbent on people in the two parties to get behind the person that not only represents the views and values of the party but also does so with a tone and tenor that is representative of what this country should go for, and that is a less toxic tone and representing the views of the american people look, donald trump, what he's doing right now, we're hearing him blast joe biden about him being anti-democratic. this is what donald trump does, is he finds his weakness and project bs it on his opponent. and unfortunately, his base runs with that with reckless abandon. hopefully, voerpts will see through that and find a republican candidate that represents the tone and ten norp of this country. >> schermichael, you wrote an interesting column on this question of third-party challenges today. tell me what you think. >> i think if you look at the dynamics here on the democratic side with kennedy and mary ann williamson both around 30% combined, you think about jill stein in 2016 between 2% and 5%, that absolutely made a difference in states like wisconsin, pennsylvania, and michigan. if hillary clinton would have won those three states, she would be president today. democrats have to strongly consider that. on the republican side, we also have to consider what votes kennedy may take away from the likely nominee, which at this point is donald trump. and could liz cheney or someone else decide to jump in under the no-lab ems moniker, could they also pull volts away from the republican nominee. these are dynamics both parties have to deal with. >> in a real way. in a real way, the polls are showing. good to see you guys. thank you so much. >> thank you u kate. coming up, new satellite images show the expansion of israeli troops in southern gaza and the devastation left behind. and in israel, air raid sirens have been going off the last hour. a report from our crews on the ground there. and police in virginia were serving a warrant at a home when the suspect fired several rounds at them just before the entire house exploded. and fresh off his expulsion from congress, george santos is turning to recording cameos for dough. how john fetterman used it to troll another member of the senate. this morning, israel is intensifying air strikes in southern gaza and expanding its ground offensive that now includes tanks in the south. new satellite imagery obtained by cnn shows dozens of israeli tanks gathered in southern gaza. these images were taken just west of gaza's main north/south route and only a few miles from the center of khan yunis. the u.n. chief describes it as an apocalyptic situation as civilians have nowhere to go. a spokesperson for the idf told cnn a ratio of two palestinians killed for every hamas militant is tremendously positive given the challenges of combat. in northern gaza, israeli troops have surrounded the massive refugee camp following days of israeli air strikes. the israeli military described the camp as a hamas stronghold. cnn's chief national security correspondent alex marquardt is in tel aviv for us. i understand sirens have been going off where you are in the past hour. what's happening there now? >> reporter: yeah, sara. the military wing of hamas has claimed responsibility for a barrage of rocketss that was just fired at tel aviv in the past hour. we heard those sirens go off as well as those loud booms in the sky of the iron dome interceptor rockets taking them down. but, most notably, sara, we did see an impact just to the north of where we are in northern tel aviv, a large plume of black smoke that landed just near a power station, from what we understand. here's a little bit of what we saw and heard. [ sirens ] >> reporter: it is quite rare for a rocket to get through the iron dome, but it can happen if the barrage is big enough or the iron dome determines that the rocket is not going to land near a populated area. it did land near a populated area. the police are checking to see if anybody has been injured. we've got an report of at least one 4-year-old ho has been injured. and of course when those rockets are taken down, shrapnel falls to the ground, so they can certainly hurt people even if they are intercepted. this comes as israel is expanding its ground operation in gaza. that has been officially announced. they are, they say, finishing up their operation in the north and then will move to focus more on the south. we've seen both satellite imagery and new video showing dozens of armored veengs in southern gaza. you mentioned a satellite image just to the west of that road which goes from north to south towards khan yunis. israel had told more than a million gazans to move south during the first phase of their operation. now they continue to tell gazans in the south to evacuate to other areas. we understand that khan yunis, the city in the south, will become a particular focus for israeli operations because officials do believe that hamas leadership is in khan yunis, at least part of it. this adds to an already catastrophic and chaotic situation where you have the vast majority of the 2.2 million population of gaza now displaced. the u.n. believes that it is 1.9 million gazans who are displaced, some in shelters, but many are camped out wherever they can find safety, whether that's in the streets or other open areas. >> alex marquardt, thank you to you and your team for explaining all of this. i do want to ask you, though, about what we heard from an idf spokesperson where he commented about the tremendous casualties, civilian casualties, saying that it was actually tremendously positive compared to other wars. it's a 2 to 1 ratio, two civilians for every hamas militant they have killed. has there been any reaction to this from the palestinians or elsewhere? >> reporter: not that we've heard from any official position or not that i know of, but it certainly has raised eyebrows, sara, because when you hear the words "tremendously positive" associated with this conflict that has kills do many civilians, that really is quite extraordinary. jonathan henriquez, the spokesperson for the ild i'd, was making the point that several thousand hamas militants have been kills do far in this conflict. it is estimated, according to the hamas-controlled ministry of health in gaza, that some 16,000 people overall have been killed. and israel is saying that, within that, there are several thousand of these hamas militants who have died as well. now, he was arguing that for every hamas militant they do estimate that around two civilians have also been killed, and he was saying that that is tremendously positive given the fact that hamas is hiding behind the civilian population. so, he was essentially confirming a report that is out there that 5,000 militants have been killed, and that would mean, however, that 10,000, at least, 10,000, sara, innocent civilians have been caught up in this, have been killed. >> that's part of the reason they're calling it a catastrophic situation. alex marquardt, thank you to you and your crew. ukraine's president zelenskyy is set to make a new direct appeal to u.s. senators over the stalled effort to approve more aid for ukraine's fight against russia. he's going to do that today just as president biden's national security adviser is also offering a stark new warning about the dwindling funds. >> running out of money, and we are nearly out of time. a vote against supplemental funding for ukraine will hurt ukraine and help russia. it will hurt democracy and help dictators. >> the fight on capitol hill over all of this, however, isn't specifically about dictators, it seems. it's about the u.s. southern border and policy changes that house republicans are demanding to push this money forward, policy changes that democrats say are a nonstarter, and even senate republicans are starting to question. the supplemental funding, as it's called in washington, is a request from president biden for about $106 billion that will go to support ukraine, israel, taiwan, and the u.s. border with mexico. lauren fox is on the hill with the latest. lauren, quotes from some senate republicans like james langford, who's been important in these negotiations, they're pretty interesting this morning, kind of questioning the strategy of the house speaker now. where does it leave this mess? >> yeah. the reality, which langford and others have acknowledged, is that the house passed immigration bill, which many skefshs are pushing for as part of this supplemental request, it didn't get democratic votes in the house of representatives. and therefore the lift of getting democratic votes on that p